Dems in conference; press awaits Monserrate statement

There’s a crush of reporters in the southwest corner of the third floor of the Capitol, as we await a statement, or an appearance, or something from Sen. Hiram Monserrate and the rest of the Democratic conference.

Whether or not this delay will eclipse last week’s two-hour wait for the Republican-led coalition to start their first planned session — which didn’t happen — remains to be seen.

This morning’s planned 11:30 a.m. presser has been delayed, perhaps due to the decision by acting Supreme Court Justice Thomas McNamara to send both sides of the Senate dispute into new negotiations over a potential power-sharing agreement. As of this writing, the parties are expected back in court in about a half-hour.

If the only purpose of the news conference was to announce Monserrate’s return to the fold, it’s hard to imagine what the holdup could be — but then again, this has been a week to overtax (no pun intended) most people’s imaginations.